Drawn to You
by Awen Sofer
Summary: A tribute to one of the more underappreciated and downright ignored characters of Naruto-Sai. Karuka is just at the art exhibition to support her friend. She meets the artist and learns a whole new way to appreciate his artistic skills. OC/AU Very Mature
1. The Exhibitionist

*Warning* Lengthy, excessively dirty lemon included below. Please...PLEASE be over 18 to read this.

The Exhibitionist

Karuka strolled around the gallery holding the glass of champagne in her hand but not drinking it. Her friend Ten Ten had invited her to the art gallery she owned for the exhibition of an amazing new artist she had just discovered. Ten Ten encountered these incredible finds on a monthly basis, and they were usually handsome and devoid of any discernible talent as far as artistic abilities were concerned. The real abilities she chose them for Karuka never inquired about because she already knew. She came tonight strictly to support her friend and the art gallery she was struggling so hard to make a success. However, she was impressed with this current artistic treasure because he showed true talent. She stopped in front of a black and white pencil drawing of dragons that appeared as if they were about to leap off the huge canvas to eat her alive. Her eyes scanned the corners of the painting for his signature. There on the tip of the tail of one of the dragons she found three small, barely visible letters. S-A-I; Sai – just one small word for a name. She wondered if he had a last name and didn't use it or if he already thought he was a superstar and worthy of just the single name.

"What do you think?" a man inquired that sidled up next to her as she examined the detail put into each scale on the dragon's body.

Karuka glanced at the man standing beside her who was barely taller than her. He had uncommonly pale skin, even more so than hers. Her freckles gave her an extra splash of color quite literally. He had short black hair that was longer in the front and hung toward his face over eyes so dark the pupil was undistinguishable. He gave her a halting smile as if he were very uncomfortable with her friendly perusal. She must look pretty strange to him with her dark auburn hair and bright green eyes.

"I think all of these artworks are amazing. This artist does absolutely stunning work. I would like to meet him," she said, turning back to the painting to study it some more.

"I can make that happen," he rejoined with a more natural, sincere smile on his face this time.

"Really?" she inquired, skeptical as to if he really knew the artist or if he was using the opportunity to hit on her.

"Hi, I'm Sai. I'm glad you like my work," he said, sticking his hand out to her.

When Karuka picked her jaw up off the floor, she shook his hand with a trembling smile and a bright pink face rife with embarrassment. "Hello, nice to meet you Sai. I'm Karuka," she replied looking him over from head to toe this time. She was not the least bit hesitant to study him with the intense curiosity as she was using on his painting. The man was dressed in black leather from top to bottom including big heavy biker boots. "Do you even own a motorcycle?"

"I like your straightforwardness. I can appreciate that in anyone, especially a woman. And yes, I do own a motorcycle. Would you like to take a ride?" he asked, holding his hand out to her.

"Yeah, but you're the exhibitionist, I mean, artist. You can't leave," she said, feeling downright humiliated from her slip up. His smile had now broadened so much that it nearly split his face in two.

"Come on," he whispered conspiratorially, taking her hand in his. He leaned his head toward hers to whisper, "I won't tell if you won't tell."

Karuka felt goose bumps rise across the bare skin of her shoulder where his warm breath blew across it. She was suddenly aware that she was dressed in a black strapless dress.

Sai noticed her dress too and his eyes were quick to light on the generous amount of cleavage that bubbled over the tight top. He licked his lips and raised his impossibly dark eyes to her bright green ones.

The motorcycle ride would have to wait. Karuka felt terribly disappointed, but she thought it was all for the best to not jump right into temptation especially when it's clad entirely in black leather. He was an artist as well. Bound to be wild, unpredictable, passionate…he was definitely handsome in a not so classic way. Her breasts threatened to spill over her dress as her breath came in long deep heaves of her chest.

"Here." He took off his leather jacket and handed it to her.

Karuka's eyes glued themselves to his incredibly defined abdominal muscles that were visible due to the cut off black shirt he wore. His pants rode so low on his hips she could see his pelvic bones and was surprised she could not see pubic hair. He looked like a stripper not an artist. Her eyes moved up to his face which still held a big grin. She allowed him to lead her outside to the black and chrome motorcycle that he easily threw his leg over and waited for her to mount behind him. Her hands slid around him, flattening against his amazingly defined abdomen to hold on when the machine under them roared to life. Neither one of them was wearing a helmet as they sped off to an unknown destination.

At exactly what time she lost her mind she was not sure, but it had definitely happened. She held on tightly to the small, slim but tightly packed man in front of her. Her heart was beating in her ears she was so frightened and exhilarated at the same time. She did not know where they were going and she did not really care. Her cheek pressed against his warm back and she dared to slide her hands down his taut belly to find the belt loops of his leather pants. After hooking her thumbs into the front two loops she allowed her fingers to lie across the front of the leather where it began to tighten and round out over something rigid. She knew she was uncomfortably close to a certain part of his anatomy but it did not prompt her to move her hands.

Sai slid his leather gloved hand down her arm, covering her hand. The fingers had been cut out of the gloves on his forefinger and thumb and he used those to trace the gold band on her left ring finger. He did not care that she was married and neither did she apparently. It was not his concern why she was willing to cheat on her husband, and he had no intention of asking. It did not matter anyway. He planned to fuck this gorgeous, willing woman silly and what happened the day after that was up to her. They could continue the affair as long as he was in town or she could go home to her husband deal with the guilt over her one night stand. He would leave that decision up to her. All he wanted to do was get to the beach house that horny little gallery owner had put him up in all expenses paid. So far he had been able to escape screwing her. She was cute and all, but she did not interest him. At least not like this woman.

Sai slid his fingers over hers, pressing them against his bulging crotch to see how she would react. She actually curled her fingers into him and shifted against his back slightly, clamping her thighs harder to his. That was the kind of reaction he was hoping for. It was going to be a great night.

Karuka could feel a sudden gush of wetness between her legs when he pressed her fingers over his erection. She liked the fact that he was not shy or coy about this. They were both adults and knew what they were getting into here. Her wedding ring had not put him off in the least which kind of excited her. Besides, her husband didn't care. He was probably working late at the office tonight anyway. He would be working his secretary over on his desk she was quite sure. Sasuke Uchiha. What a bastard! If she had only known. He seemed so exotic and enticing when he came to see her father about the private security contract with her father's company. Meh. The strong silent type is highly overrated. The mysterious quiet demeanor hid a sadistic abusive monster. She should have known by his soulless, emotionless black eyes what he was hiding deep inside. His one redeeming quality was that he was filthy freaking rich and gave her anything and everything she wanted. She was his queen and treated her as such but she paid for everything she got with black eyes and broken bones administered by his hands. He had convinced their private physician that she was the clumsiest damn woman on earth. The doctor did not believe it, but there was nothing he could do to help.

Karuka pressed herself against the lithe man in front of her. He felt powerful despite his smallish size which she hoped only extended to his physique and not certain parts of his anatomy. She did not care who he really is or the fact he was temporary. She did not want to know anything about him except how good he was in bed. This was about pleasure and having a nice distraction for a while. Relationships did not interest her; she already had one and it sucked. Love and romance was good; it was great as a matter of fact. The reality is that all of that romance junk is just bullshit. It's like make-up on women. It's pretty until it's washed off and the harsh, often ugly, truth beneath is all that is left behind. It's not real - just smoke and mirrors that convinces people they _love_ someone and they do something stupid like get married. Falling in love was lust dressed up with roses and wine. Love had nothing to do with it. After making the epic mistake of marrying Sasuke Uchiha, who she had been totally passionately _in love_ with, she had no idea what love was at all anymore.

Ten Ten's beach house. Of course. Where else would her pet artist be staying? Karuka has stayed here many times after some of her more unpleasant encounters with her husband. She dismounted the motorcycle going straight to the decorative plaster ladybug in the lovely flower bed riddled with an array of wildflowers that were all colors of the rainbow. The key slid out into her hand after she picked it up and she unlocked the door. The house was a plain, straightforward five room structure: two bedrooms, one bathroom, kitchen, and living room. It was meant to be a weekend getaway home, and it had been her safe haven too many times.

"Been here before I see," he stated with amusement, slamming the door behind them.

"Yeah, I have," she answered bluntly, offering no further explanation. She threw her purse and the key onto the glass end table by the hideous seashell print couch. She hated the way people always decorated beach homes in seashells, light houses, or some other oceanic theme. It was so pathetically redundant. A little creativity would be nice. She was staring out of the glass sliding door that leads to the back deck that was bigger than the whole house. It was built out over the cliff and offered a breath taking view of the ocean below. She loved this place. The soothing ocean had helped her recover mentally during her times of physical rehabilitation. Her eyes rose to meet Sai's in the reflection on the glass door as he stood behind her with his body pressed into the full length of hers. His chin rested on her bare shoulder as his hands slid around her waist. She sighed and leaned her head back against him when he started pressing kisses to her neck.

"What do you want me to do first?" he asked, sliding his hands up the fuzzy velvety fabric of her dress to her breasts. He moaned as she rubbed her behind against his aching erection while he massaged her big breasts through the dress. She was so ready and there was no reason to make her wait. Pure sex was all she wanted; to hell with all the fluff. That was fine by him.

"I don't care. Just screw my brains out," she ordered, leaning forward and pulling up her long hair so he could reach her zipper. In a flash her dress was gone and she was totally naked except for her high heeled shoes. She had not bothered with a bra or underwear.

"Damn!" he yelled, grabbing her huge globes and squeezing the pink nipples. He pulled her against him sliding his hand down her body and pushing it between her thighs that were already wet and slick.

Karuka cried out and writhed against him when he slid his fingers against her waiting womanhood. She pressed her hand over his, pushing his finger between the saturated lips to stroke her swollen and highly aroused pleasure button.

"Karuka," he moaned in her ear as she used his finger to rub herself while her naked ass stroked his rigid member through his tight leather pants. He pushed her forward so he could unleash his pulsating member that was being constricted painfully by the unyielding leather.

"Sai, I want you inside of me," she begged when she felt his manhood slide between her thighs. He wasn't huge but he wasn't small either, just somewhere comfortably in between. She hoped he could keep it up because he was the perfect size for screwing all night long without becoming sore or not feeling anything at all.

Sai was more than willing to give her what she wanted so while he continued to stroke her with one hand he pushed her forward to bend her over and open her up to him. He slowly slid in, watching her face in the mirrored finish of the glass door caused by the complete blackness outside. There was no light outside: no streetlights, no security lights, and not even any moon light since it was a new moon night. The house was located at the very end of the island and perched precariously on a cliff. It was a good thing he was only horny and not murderous because he could kill her and no one would hear her scream. He still intended to make her scream. He pulled her back to a standing position so he could get his hand back on her luscious breasts. He was practically drooling to taste those perky pink nipples. All in good time. She belonged to him for the night and maybe the next day. He had all the time in the world to taste, touch, and screw her as much as he wanted. Right now that was his greatest ambition and purpose in life. His hips thrust harder and faster with the thoughts of what he wanted to do to her. She was so hot and wet he wanted to unleash with a furious orgasm already but he wanted her to have one first. Please her and leave her begging for more then give it to her, over and over…oh god. He felt her tight walls clench around him and she called his name as she bucked against his hand. This was it already. Her face was absolutely gorgeous in the throes of passion as she whimpered and sighed loudly. He had work to do to get her to scream. He saw the bed through the open door to his left.

Karuka was almost confused as he swung her around and ducked down to throw her naked body over his shoulder. She giggled when he unceremoniously dumped her on the bed in the darkened room. She could not see him but she could feel him standing between her legs. By the way he shifted and moved she assumed he was undressing. Her hands reached out blindly in the dark, contacting his smooth silky skin. It was so soft; it was like touching a baby. Obviously he barely got in the sun so he did not have any issue with any kind of sun damage. Although she could tell her was highly experienced sexually, in some ways he still remained unblemished and untarnished.

"What are you doing?" he asked, when her fingertips continued to glide over his body with the lightest pressure possible to still feel his skin underneath.

"Your skin is incredible. It's so soft," she remarked, smiling as her fingertips grazed his inner thighs and made him gasp.

"I've got something hard you need to feel," he said, seizing her wrist and pushing her fingers around his throbbing member. He needed to ejaculate and very soon because his balls were starting to ache. "Suck it." He wondered if she really would because it was still covered with her juices. "Oh, my god! You're amazing!" he yelled when he felt her soft lips cover the head and suck gently before her tongue ran around it.

"Mmmmm, interesting taste," she commented, smacking her lips before pressing a kiss to smooth head of his twitching member and licking around it again.

"Oh, shit!" he exclaimed as she slowly lowered her head all the way down his shaft until her nose was buried in his pubic hair. His hands went to her head and his fingers twisted into her hair as she cautiously moved up and down, sucking and stroking him with her hand. He liked the way she was careful with her teeth only using them to slightly graze him occasionally to heighten his pleasure. "Will you swallow?" he asked, panting as he moved closer to an orgasm.

Karuka's answer came in the form of cupping his balls and massaging them gently as if she wanted squeeze it out of him. She was looking forward to this; she wanted to taste him. In her anticipation she sucked harder and tightened her grip on his member as she stroked him. She wanted it.

"Get ready," he warned her, shoving her head all the way down on him. He humped her skull as he pumped his semen down her throat, yelling her name when he felt her throat constrict around the head again and again as she swallowed the load he shot into her mouth.

Karuka continued to suck and swallow until he started growing limp in her mouth and shoved her away because it was too sensitive for her touch it anymore. She lay back on the bed, gasping for air and licking her lips to catch every drop of him. Her body rolled into his when he lay down next to her.

"Oh, dear god that fabulous mouth of yours," Sai whispered, kissing her mouth. He licked away the salty taste of himself that still on her lips. For some strange reason it excited him. He pressed his lips to hers again thrusting his tongue into her mouth.

Karuka sighed as his tongue stroked hers, gently coaxing her to push her tongue into his mouth. She moaned and moved against him when he sucked her tongue to draw in more of his taste. Well, well, what a sexy little freak. She allowed him to push her over on her back as he kissed her chin and began kissing down her neck. For once she was going to lay back and let the man do all the work. A sigh of pleasure escaped her lips when she felt his tongue circle her hard nipple before nipping it and taking it into his mouth. Her fingers buried themselves into his silky hair as he sucked the stiff little object that excited him as much as it did her.

Sai planned to explore her body until he was fully erect and ready to go again. He moved to her other breast to tease the nipple. They were wonderfully tender little projections that felt good underneath his tongue. He rubbed his hand between her legs and her other set of lips, feeling another small rigid protuberance he could not wait to get his lips and tongue on.

Karuka almost cried out with sheer joy as his trail of kiss began leading further south on her body. Oh, yes, she wanted his mouth on her. Her fingers were still twisted into his hair as she gently started pushing him down. She wanted, no needed, his mouth on her throbbing, hungry womanhood. She could not get enough of him.

"Oh, Sai," she howled with pleasure, her body shuddering when his tongue slid between her lips and touched the pulsating little thing buried within. She opened her legs wide to spread herself open for him like a flower loosening its petals for the bee to insert himself to probe inside. Her fingers gathered handfuls of his hair, pulling gently when his lips enclosed her and sucked. Her sighs turned to moans as her pleasure grew and continued to climb in intensity. Before long she was calling his name repetitively and pulling his face against her drenched, shuddering body while she unwound from a mind blowing orgasm.

Sai was ready. He was rock hard and horny as hell. He shoved himself into her willing body hearing her gasp loudly in the dark. The sex was forceful and almost violent in intensity. He took her hard and fast with no apologies. His arousal was so out of bounds he did not care if she climaxed or not because he was only thinking of his pleasure, his wants, and his desires.

Karuka was doing the same thing as she thrust her hips back at him, sometimes so hard she almost threw him off of her. She grunted and yowled, clawed his back, and pulled his hair. She was willing to tear him apart to get what she wanted. Her body was covered with sweat, and it trickled down to the bed. Sweat dripped from him and mixed with hers making the bed beneath her damp. She pulled him down on top of her, pressing her mouth to his for a kiss that became a tumultuous tongue fight as they neared the end. She bit his tongue, tasting blood while his teeth nipped her lower lip drawing her blood. Their blood and tongues swirled together as they pushed each other while reaching for their own explosive orgasm.

"Oh, Sai!" she screamed and that started the beginning of the end. She thrust up at him pushing them both up off the bed.

"Karuka, dammit, lay down!" he yelled, pushing her hips back down on the bed as he spastically shoved into her spurting deep inside of her. His hip bones rubbed against hers until they were both sore. Afterwards, he collapsed on the bed beside her.

Both of them were shivering and struggling for air. She believed she was crying but could not tell because so much sweat covered her face. They lay trembling together, side by side without saying anything. Within minutes, both of them fell asleep because they were completely exhausted.


	2. Home Coming

A friendly warning from the Author: this is an adult fanfic with adult themes such as rape and graphic sex. Several choice curse were are included as well.

* * *

Home Coming

Sai woke up alone. He later found a note in the kitchen.

_It was a genuine pleasure meeting you. I will be back tonight for more. Karuka_

Sai smiled. Short and to the point, just like her. He licked his lips, and he could still taste her. Mmmm…she was so delicious. He would need more rest.

* * *

"Good morning, sweetheart. I missed you last night," Sasuke said, attempting to kiss her as she swept past him. He sighed deeply with frustration. She had stayed out all night and her hair was still wet from a shower. Without a doubt, she had screwed someone. "So who was it this time?" he patiently asked, staring at the black liquid in his cup. He leaned against the counter and scrutinized her with his black eyes.

"An artist," Karuka answered plainly, pouring herself a cup of coffee ignoring his blazing eyes.

"One of Ten Ten's discoveries?" he inquired, looking at his lovely wife. He wanted to throttle her. He wanted to wrap his hands around her throat and squeeze until she was dead.

"He actually looks a lot like you, Sasuke. Maybe that's why I liked him so much," she said, giving him a peck on the cheek. Her body stiffened as fear tickled her spine when she felt his hand grasp her neck. She trembled when he placed his cheek against hers and his lips beside her ear.

"I could kill you," he whispered threateningly in her ear. His tongue snaked out and licked her earlobe. "I _want_ to kill you."

"But you won't. In you're very sick way, you love me. You can't live without me. Don't threaten me, Sasuke. I know you better than that," she responded in a cold emotionless voice. She hoped she knew him that well anyway. He had already killed his brother; that is a body that will never be found. She had no idea where he had hid Itachi's body, and she was not about to ask. It was not a killer instinct that ran in their family but an unadulterated blood lust. They killed people because they enjoyed it.

"Karuka, you're so beautiful. I suddenly remember why I married you," he murmured, running his hand down her arm and allowing his thumb to graze over her braless breast. "Oh, sweetheart, it's been awhile since I've had you."

"What's wrong? You're secretary, Buffy… Brittany…Bambi…what the hell is the name of the one this month?" she asked, rolling her eyes to the ceiling as if she were thinking.

"Brenda," he offered, pushing down the strap of her tank top. He turned her to face him so he could reach her breast.

"Right, Brenda! Bambi was fired last month. Silly me," she said, ignoring him as he lowered his mouth to her nipple. She slammed her coffee cup down on the counter as he sucked it hard. Oh, damn him! A warm heaviness grew in the pit of her stomach and a chilling pleasure raced up her spine. She buried her fingers and her face into his soft black hair that felt like raven's feathers. "What's wrong, dear? Aren't they enough anymore? Or are you giving the wife a pity fuck? Don't bother," she growled in his ear, shoving his face away. He bit her nipple, and she would swear he bit it off as the searing pain shot through her breast and radiated through her chest. "Motherfucker!"

"Never from you, you barren bitch," he spat at her, pushing his hips against hers to hold her against the counter.

Karuka bit her lower lip to hold back the scream of pain as the counter was pushed into her back with such force it felt like her spine was breaking. Tears gathered and leaked from her eyes. Black haired bastard from Satan's own loins. He knew how much the fact that she was unable to have children hurt her. It was his fault anyway. He had ruptured one of her ovaries by repeatedly kicking her in the back during one of the particularly bad beatings. The other one was so damaged the doctor had given her only a ten percent chance of getting pregnant. It was the same as giving a person ten percent chance of living; it just was not going to happen but the doctor did not have the nerve to say so.

"You are _mine_! I will take whatever is mine, whenever I want it," he hissed through his teeth, grabbing her skirt and pulling it up to her waist.

"Don't force me," she begged when he sat her on the counter. "I'll do it willingly."

"But sweetheart, I only like fucking you when I force you," he snarled, ramming himself into her.

"Oh, my god, it hurts," she gasped, the tears flowing faster and more profusely down her cheeks. He had used his big dick as a weapon against her on more than one occasion. She closed her eyes tightly keeping her mouth shut so she would not utter another word or sound that would excitement him further.

"You know just what to say to excitement me. You feel so good. It's so tight when you resist," he grunted in her ear, thrusting into her with a brutal strength.

'Just end this, please hurry,' she implored him silently. Giving her words a voice would only bring him more pleasure. She thought about the little seaside bungalow, the hideous furniture, the palatial deck where she loved to sit. Her mind turned his panting in her ear into the sound of the rhythmic ocean waves breaking against the shore below. The calm. The peace. The pleasure. Sai.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sasuke demanded, abruptly stopping.

Karuka opened her eyes to realize she had enveloped him with her arms and legs and her lips were pressed against his neck. When she thought of Sai, she had begun responding to her husband as if he was the unique stranger she had mind blowing rough sex with last night. This was a definite turn off to him. She was supposed to be afraid, to hurt, to fight him. She could feel his erection withering inside of her.

"What's the matter, baby?" she asked, wiggling her ass to move him inside of her. "Don't you want me?"

Sasuke drew back his hand and slapped her. He smiled at the trickle of blood from the side of her mouth. He did not know the injury was actually caused by another man last night.

Karuka licked the blood with a sinister grin on her face. She knew. She knew it was from the cut caused by Sai when he bit her lip. Her hips thrust at Sasuke, and he visibly recoiled. Sick fuck. If she wanted it, she was disgusting to him. He was the most revolting and degenerative man.

Sasuke backed up from her. His monster dick had shriveled and died. She slayed the beast by pretending to want to have sex with him. Karuka held hate in her eyes and the blood on her lips as she watched him turn and leave the kitchen. She grabbed her purse and keys, running for the kitchen door which was the door she had just entered a few moments earlier. She had to get out of here.

* * *

"Why don't you just leave him?" Ten Ten asked after her friend had told her the whole story. She had been wondering where her star attraction had disappeared to last night. She was disappointed that her best friend had snagged him in bed before she could. Her thoughts moved back to the situation at hand. "Sasuke is going to kill you one day."

"I know," Karuka answered with resignation, taking the chamomile tea with honey that Ten Ten had made for her. She needed all the calming influences she could get right now. "Death is the only way I'll ever escape him."

"Oh, my god! Don't be so damn morose," the other woman snapped, rolling her eyes.

"I didn't say it had to be my death," she remarked with unsettling tranquility.

"That tea might have worked too well at smoothing out your rough edges. Are you insane?" her friend yelled, spilling her tea all over the floor as he hand shook. "Dammit! Look what you made me do!"

"I didn't make you do anything," she said with that freakishly calm voice. Being married to the Uchiha for so long had rubbed off on her. She had developed the ability to maintain that apathetic, creepy calm demeanor.

"Get away from him," Ten Ten ordered. "Please, get out that terrible marriage before he kills you."

* * *

When Karuka arrived at the cottage, Sai was gone. She used the key from the ladybug to open the door and replaced it before even going inside this time. She had nearly locked herself out this morning before remembering to replace it. After another hot shower, she changed into a floor length sundress of emerald green cotton. Uncorking a bottle of wine and not bothering with a glass, she took a swig and headed to the deck. Leaving the door to the house open to allow the cool ocean breeze to make its way inside, she pulled a chair to the edge of the deck that overlooked the ocean. When her feet were securely propped on the top railing, she kicked back and planned to get quite tipsy drinking the whole bottle of wine in the warm sun while listening to the rushing waves below.

* * *

Sai arrived near sunset to find a car in the driveway. He walked all around the expensive German vehicle admiring it and wondering who it belonged to. Upon noticing that the front door was wide open he tentatively walked in to see the back door was open as well with the salty sea air blowing through the house. He closed the front door and was in the process of closing the back door when he saw a pair of feet on the banister.

"What the hell?" he muttered. He carefully proceeded not knowing who or what awaited him.

A smile lit up his face when he saw a sleeping and very sunburned Karuka. An empty wine bottle lay on the floor at her feet. She was going to be in terrible pain later.

Sai carefully slid one arm under her sunburned legs and worked the other under her sun reddened arms. After laying her on the freshly made bed that they had totally ruined last night, he set about finding pain medication and aloe vera gel to help her with the pain of the sunburn.

* * *

"Oh, god!" Karuka exclaimed, sitting bolt upright in the bed. The gel was so cold against her heated skin that it immediately woke her out of an alcohol induced sleep. The shock to her body also sobered her up quite nicely. She grabbed her head with a groan and gingerly returned to a reclining position. "What happened?"

"My best guess is that you fell asleep in the sun after getting drunk. With your fair skin, you officially baked to a deep shade of lobster red. Here," he said, putting the pills in her mouth and shoving the straw from the water glass between her lips. He didn't have to take care of her, but he wanted to for some unfathomable reason.

Karuka closed her eyes as the events from the morning came flooding back to her in a jumble of images. She refused to let the tears fall by pressing her hands against her eyes effectively shoving them back into her tear ducts. Her skin prickled when a gentle pressure pushed something frigid and slimy feeling across the hot surface of her skin that made her imagine sizzling bacon. Dumbass. She knew better than to be in the sun with her skin. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at the man patiently spreading the cool goo all over her to quench the burning of her flesh.

"Thank you," she croaked, his eyes meeting hers when she spoke. Her voice was hoarse with emotion from the memory of this morning and the unexpected tenderness of the man sitting beside her.

"Why don't you get some sleep after I finish this? I've got to go back to the gallery for another showing tonight. Will you still be here when I return or will you vanish into thin air again?" he asked, slightly irritated. He did not want her to leave again for fear she might do something else stupid during her absence.

"I'll be here."

* * *

Karuka stared at her reflection in the mirror after she awoke hours later. She hurt all over. She wondered if a person could receive second or third degree burns from the sun. Placing a cool damp washcloth against her skin brought relief for about two seconds. It quickly heated up and felt like sandpaper against her damaged skin. With a deep sigh of misery she decided to slather on more of the lotion. She was finished except for her lower legs when Sai returned. Her eyes stayed on him as he shrugged out of his leather jacket and grabbed the bottle from her. She watched as he cautiously rubbed the soothing gel on her red legs.

"Have you taken anything else for the pain?" Sai inquired while finishing her legs.

"No. I haven't," she answered. She waited as he got up to retrieve two more pills and another glass of water.

"You're accustomed to being waited on aren't you, Princess?" he asked, handing them to her.

"Yes, I am," she admitted, ignoring his glare as she downed the medication and drained the glass of water.

"I won't be your servant," he remarked, sitting down on the bed next to her. His dark eyes met her brilliant emerald ones.

"I never asked you to do any of this," she reminded him, confidently returning his open stare. "I thought you were doing it just to be nice. There's nothing wrong with showing a little kindness."

"You're not going to fall in love with me or anything like that?" he asked apprehensively. He winced at the loud, braying laughter that suddenly gushed from her wide open mouth.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Why would I do something stupid like that?" she queried bitterly. The smile on her face was vicious and mean spirited. "We had sex. I got a sunburn and you helped me with the pain by rubbing aloe gel on it and getting a few pain pills. Hardly notable enough to _fall in love_, wouldn't you agree?"

Sai gulped. He had not expected that kind of bitter reaction from the beautiful woman he had sex with last night who exhibited so much passion and fervor. Damn, she could be needlessly cruel. He was fascinated by this woman.

"Tell me more about you," he requested, moving closer to her.

"No," she answered brusquely, her eyes narrowing when he moved even closer. "You don't need to know anything about me."

"Why are you here?" he asked, grabbing her by the wrist when she slid off the bed.

Karuka glowered at him fiercely and scornfully. Now he was way too close. She twisted her wrist and jerked free of his grip easily. "Nice try. I won't tell you because then I'll be telling you something about me."

Sai smiled cheerlessly. Absolutely intriguing. He watched her walk out of the room. The door to the second bedroom slammed and he was actually able to hear her lock it. Conversation over. She had enough. Damn what a woman.

* * *

Karuka woke up to a room filled with sunlight – and Sai staring at her from the chair in the corner. She screamed and rolled off the bed in her body's pathetic attempt to act on the flight mechanism from her burst of adrenaline due to the shock of her unexpected watcher in the room.

"Ow! Dammit!" she yelled, rubbing her sore head as she struggled to her feet in the cocoon of covers. She refused to unwind herself because she was naked underneath.

"That was great! But can you get back on the bed? I was sketching you," he said, completely unaffected by her violent reaction to him.

"Are you kidding me?" she snapped, lying back down on the bed anyway. "How did you get in here?"

"I picked the lock," he answered nonchalantly like it was a perfectly normal thing to do. "I wanted to draw you. I like to draw beautiful things and you're without a doubt the most beautiful woman I've seen in a long time."

Karuka made an awful snorting sound with her face planted in the mattress of the bed.

"Well that wasn't pretty," he muttered, putting his sketchpad on the table beside him. "Karuka?"

"What?" she moaned, rolling over onto her back. "Oh, my god!"

Karuka was startled to see he was standing beside the bed completely naked with his member swaying in front of her face like a pendulum except it was pointing upward. A human metronome. She giggled insanely.

"Sorry. I'm a man. It's difficult to **not** have that reaction when I see a naked woman," he said, lying down on the bed next to her. "Let me make love to you."

Karuka resisted the urge to shove him away. _Love._ Puh. She closed her eyes as he patiently began to unravel the sheet and coverlet from around her. Her body was still a little sore from the sunburn. She wondered if she would still be raw and tender inside from her husband's failed rape attempt from yesterday.

Sai planned on being very careful with her. Ten Ten had told him last night at the art gallery why she was back at the cottage and to just leave her alone. He could not leave her alone after what he had been told. His art promoter warned him that if Karuka found out she had said something, the irate woman would kill them both. It was understandable why she had not wanted to tell him anything about her. She wanted to hide it, ignore it, and act like it did not exist. He would help her. He would take away the pain for a while at least.

Karuka rolled away from him when she was fully unwound and free of her cloth prison. She attempted to slide off the bed, but he grabbed her and pulled her back. She cried out when he straddled her hips to hold her down. This brought back memories that made her bite her lip and tears slide from her eyes.

"I'm not him," Sai announced immediately, gauging her reaction as a negative one to unwanted memories. He quickly moved off of her, sitting with his back back to the headboard.

"What?" she asked opening her eyes. Did he know?

"Whoever hurt you, I'm not him. Whatever he did, I won't do," he assured her, pulling her to him.

Karuka crushed her lips to his straddling his lap. She grabbed his erection and guided him into her. With great caution she began sliding down on him. It hurt a little, mostly because she was not truly ready for him yet. She just wanted to feel something. Her body felt so cold and dead inside. She needed to at least feel physical pleasure since her emotions had become a bleak, dark void within her. A baleful yowl tore from her lips when she succeeded in taking him in completely.

Sai actually jumped from the mournful sound that escaped her lips. It was disconcerting because it carried so much anguish and sorrow. What she was doing had nothing to do with sex. She was trying to escape her emotional torture.

"Use me," he whispered, bringing her lips to his with a crushing force. "Use me to get away from the hurt. I want to help."

Karuka pressed her lips against his to make him stop talking. He talked just too damn much during sex. She pushed herself up and down on him, wiggling around until she found that certain spot within her. When his manhood grazed across that sensitive area, she yelled his name and clawed his shoulders. The elusive g-spot that most women believed was a myth made up by men was the spot she continued to rub him against by grinding her hips into his.

"Oh, Karuka, yes!" he yelled, digging his fingers into her ass while he held her down on him. What she was doing to please herself felt wonderful to him as well. "Kiss me," he begged, pulling her head down to his.

Karuka kissed him, forcing her tongue through his lips to tease his as she moved closer to an orgasm. She moaned loudly after ripping her lips from his. Pushing against his shoulders, she leaned back and allowed him to move her hips.

"Karuka, come for me," he said, meeting her shocked gaze.

Karuka held his intense gaze feeling the heavy pressure within her immediately release and flow through her body like thousands of volts of electricity had been unleashed into her body.

"Honey, look at me. Don't stop. I'll come with you," Sai told her, his mouth dropping open and working as if he wanted to say something. "Oh, god, please. Call my name."

Karuka leaned forward, enclosing him with her arms. She kissed his cheek and placed her lips against his ear. Her hips kept moving to draw him to an orgasm as she moaned his name over and over. When his hands clamped down on her hips and he rammed into her as he released, he scraped across her g-spot and touched off another orgasm within her. They clung to each other as they rode out their orgasms with spastic thrusts of their hips while placing passionate kisses across each other's faces.

Sai held her close, sliding his hands down her back. Her forehead was placed against his while she held his face in her hands. They were both panting in their desperation for air. So far they have had their minds blown and their breath taken away by the sex. What next? He opened his eyes to look at her. He wanted to remember her this way. His eyes studied every detail of her face: the blush on her cheeks, the way a stray auburn curl had fallen across her forehead and lay against her cheek, the prolific freckles that had multiplied after her time in the sun. He used his finger to trace the contours of her face. He had to recall everything; every line, every curve. His finger traced her lips then he kissed her. A disconcerting thought ran through his mind as he stared at her so he could recapture her beauty from memory and draw her later.

"I could love you," he whispered, regretting it the moment her eyes opened and her flashing green irises landed on his face. If she could kill him with a look, he would be dead.

"Don't EVER say anything like that to me again."


	3. Stay

Stay

Sai gaped at her in disbelief. What the hell is wrong with this woman? He closed his mouth when she swiftly dismounted and disappeared out the door. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid," he chided himself, beating his head against the wall gently with each word.

The water turned on for the shower so he decided to take a chance on joining her. He had already gotten into it deep with her so why bail out now? A glutton for punishment apparently, he felt something for the first time ever and did not want it to stop no matter how badly it might hurt when he had to leave her at the end of the week. Everything heals with time. Sometimes. Apparently, this woman had wounds so deep nothing could heal them.

Karuka turned her face to the hot water holding her breath as she allowed it to pound her face and flow down her body. It hurt a little due to the lingering sunburn, but she didn't care. When she felt physical pain, the emotional pain was not so bad. The door squeaked open and she could see the hazy figure through the opaque blue shower curtain of the man she had hoped to hide from coming into the room. But she locked the bathroom door.

"Are you a professional thief in your spare time since you can pick locks so well?" she inquired when he eased into the shower behind her. She turned to stare at him, allowing the water to beat her back for a while.

"Maybe…I'd like to steal your heart," he said, pressing his fingertips against his chest. If he was going to die, he might as well make it worthwhile.

Karuka smiled. 'He is so cute in such an irritating way,' she thought to herself. "You can't steal something that I don't have," she calmly replied, turning her back to him. She could not stand the way his dark black eyes looked _into_ her instead of _at_ her. He was attempting to sift through her bullshit; through all the ugly words and all the scars, trying to figure her out and she did not like it.

"Sai, don't," she snapped, when she felt his arms slide around her waist, and he molded his body to hers. She pressed her lips together when he kissed her shoulder, then just held her close to him not moving a muscle. "Please, don't. Let me go."

"No, I won't." He held her in the ardent embrace that was purely sentimental and expressing deep emotion rather than shallow, fleeting lust.

"You're barking up the wrong tree," she warned him, moving a little to see if he would let her go.

"You're not a tree, and I ain't barking," he retorted, holding her firmly.

"Are you always so stubborn and stupid?"

"Yeah. It's a habit. Besides, I am a man you know."

Oh, yes, she was aware.

* * *

Karuka stared at the man sitting at the opposite end of the couch from her. He had the sketch pad in his lap again and kept glancing at her.

"Tell me something about you," she said, meeting his gaze when he raised his dark eyes to her.

"You first. I asked yesterday," he reminded her, sitting the sketch pad and his pencils on the coffee table. He moved closer to her, putting her legs over his lap.

"I'm married," she answered.

"I knew that," he rejoined, grabbing her ring finger. "Try again."

"You didn't say it had to be something you didn't know. Your turn."

"I'm an artist. Now you."

"Okay. Touché. Well played, my dear. Let me think." She thought for a minute, taking one of his hands between hers. She stroked his fingers and ran her forefinger in circles across the back while she struggled for something to tell him. "I'm an only child who was very spoiled by her parents."

"I'm an orphan. I grew up in a foster home with an abusive father," he stated with no emotion whatsoever. He felt her fingers brush across his cheek but did not look at her. "I had one saving grace there. His name was Shin. He was a foster child too but I thought of him as my older brother."

"I married for love," she said, smiling with the irony of the statement. "I have an abusive husband who is a complete asshole. I married him because I love him. Isn't that stupid?"

'That explains a lot,' he thought to himself, expecting her to breakdown into tears. He looked into her eyes but saw nothing – no tears and no real emotion except for an obvious sadness.

"I was trained as an assassin and taught suppress my emotions by my asshole foster father." He scooted closer to her with her thighs resting across his. He stole a glance at her expecting to see fear or disgust instead of the expression of unabashed curiosity while she stared at him.

Assassin? Karuka was immediately intrigued by that. That explains a lot about his high degree of 'social awkwardness.' She was beginning to suspect he had Asperger's Syndrome or he was a high functioning autistic because of his odd behavior.

"Sai," she murmured, cupping his chin in her hand and turning his head to look at her. "Are you capable of loving at all?"

"I'd like to think so. I want to find out," he replied, leaning toward her.

"Sai," she repeated in a more sensual tone as his lips moved close to hers. "Would you do anything for me?"

"All you have to do is ask," he responded, anticipating a kiss that never came.

"Sai."

Every time she said his name it felt as if she was touching something deep inside of him, awakening it, breathing life into it. Was it part of him he had forgotten? A part that he thought had been destroyed? They might be able to heal each other's hurts. He might have been thinking too highly of himself and in his self-importance not realizing she could help him as well. His pride had blinded him to the fact this woman could heal him and his emotional wounds.

"Love me," Karuka begged. She did want it; she just never thought she could have it. After being told for years she was unworthy of being loved, she had begun to believe it. Worthless, damaged, broken, dirty, useless, stupid, bothersome…all these adjectives had been flung at her time and time again by her husband until she believed them.

"You have to promise me the same thing. Will you love me?" Sai asked, pushing her lovely dark red hair back from her face.

"Yes," she gasped, pressing her lips to his.

"I'd die for you," he whispered after pulling his lips from hers to quickly return them.

"Dying is easy. Would you live for me?" She pushed him back, staring into his onyx eyes.

"Yes." He grabbed for her, and she held him at an arm's length.

"Would you kill for me?"

"Yes."

"Take me," she ordered, pulling him to her and smashing her lips to his so hard that their teeth scraped together and the metallic taste of blood filled their mouths. That's twice they had shed and shared each other's blood. They had become a part of each other in many ways.

Karuka's phone began to vibrate on the table. She ignored it. She moaned as Sai's fingers slipped beneath the thin straps of her sundress and pushed them down her arms. Her phone beeped with a text message alert that went unanswered. A moan flowed from her lips as his mouth nibbled and kissed along her neck on its way to her breast.

The phone made a weird bird noise before Sasuke's voice burst through the speaker. "Karuka!" he bellowed over the two way radio transmission feature of the phone.

"Oh, you insistent hateful bastard," she muttered, grabbing the phone. "What the hell do you want?" she yelled into the phone.

"I know you're busy and all fucking your boyfriend but I need you to come with me tonight. I need you to come be beautiful and pretend to be my dutiful wife for a while. Come home by six," Sasuke ordered.

"Yes, master," she responded sarcastically.

"Bitch," he snarled.

Sai made a grab for the phone and Karuka pushed him back with her hand against his forehead. He resorted to covering her bare nipple with his mouth to regain her attention.

Karuka turned off the phone and grabbed Sai's head, digging her fingers into his hair. She forced him over onto his back, sitting between his legs. Her fingers slid up his incredibly defined abdomen, then curved into his skin raking down his rippled belly leaving trails of red. Her vaginal muscles clenched with excitement when Sai arched his back pressing her hands against him before sliding them back up his body.

"Karuka," he gasped, opening his half lidded eyes full of yearning. He pushed her hands underneath his shirt teasing his nipples with her fingers.

Karuka snatched her hands away from his, moving down to his pants to unbutton them. She pushed him down when he raised his hips to her. After unzipping them, she carefully worked the tight jeans off of his body. The sundress was pushed down to the floor and left as she stepped out of it to go back to him. Her eyes held his as she mounted him while he lay on his back on the couch.

"All right, honey, I'm all yours," he said, placing his hands behind his head.

"You're my toy?" she inquired, bouncing up and down on him.

"Uh huh," he responded happily, pushing his hips up at her. He did it again to make her squeal. He loved making that sound come out of her.

Karuka pressed her hands to his chest to hold him down. She rode him vigorously, watching his face as she pleasured him and herself. Her body shuddered when he dragged his fingers down her belly and around her hips to clamp his hands around her butt cheeks and hold her down on top of him. She groaned loudly while he pushed up into her with a sharp thrust each time she started sliding down his shaft. Having sex with him was one of the most wonderful experiences she had enjoyed in a long time. It transcended the physical and drew them in emotionally, binding them together. She had never felt this with her husband. She did not feel so empty, so hurt with him.

"Oh, Sai," she wailed, throwing back her head in a howl as she dropped down on him and shook with an orgasm.

"Oh, sweetheart, yes!" he yelled, holding her around the waist as he pushed up into her and unleashed with his climax. "You're the one I want."

"What are you talking about?" she asked, standing up.

"Karuka, I want you to be mine." He watched her as she pulled the dress back over her head. Disappointed with her lack of reaction, he stood up in front of her.

"I am yours. I'm your lover." She patted him on the cheek as if he had been a good little boy.

"No. I want you," he said, pulling her against him possessively as if to make his point.

"Sai, you know this is just temporary. You'll be leaving me soon won't you? I'm not the one leaving. You are," she reminded him, jerking out of his grip.

"Where are you going?" he asked, following her like a puppy.

"You heard the conversation earlier. Don't worry, my dear," she said, turning to kiss him. "I'll be back."

* * *

Sasuke glared at his wife when she entered the bedroom. He was sitting in the chair in the corner engulfed in darkness so he knew she had not seen him yet. He flicked on the lamp enjoying her gasp of surprise and the look of fear on her face.

"Hello, my love," he said, standing up slowly from the chair.

"Sasuke," his wife muttered, keeping her eyes on him while he moved toward her in a stealthy manner like an animal stalking its prey. He was wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. He hardly ever wore them but when he did, he looked amazing. Damn, he and Sai were similar. But there were so many ways they were different – very important ways.

"I have something for you. I bought it for you for tonight." He nodded his head toward the bed.

Karuka looked at the black silk dress laying on the bed. It was floor length and form fitting with long sleeves and high neck but it was backless. He loved to see her in black. He also seemed to prefer black and blue by the bruises he put on her. She inhaled sharply when she felt him behind her, pushing aside her hair. Her body trembled when his lips touched her neck. 'No, please,' her mind screamed as his hand slid around her belly and pulled her to him, pressing her back against his belly.

"You've always been beautiful to me," he whispered, kissing her neck again. "I like to see you in pretty things. All I've ever wanted to do is take care of you. To love you."

Karuka felt like laughing. Her breathing was rapid, coming in shallow gasps. He must have mistakenly believed it was sexual excitement because he pushed her to the bed while pulling her dress up to her waist.

"Bend over, my lovely wife," he ordered, pushing her down until her hands were on the bed.

Karuka held her breath as she waited for him to enter her. Her breath hitched and she whimpered when he easily slid into her because she was still drenched inside from Sai. It felt…good. She closed her eyes and her body gently swayed back and forth as he slid in and out of her. Her lips pressed together to prevent any sounds from escaping because she did not want him to stop. She was imagining Sai inside of her, carefully stroking her to an orgasm as he made love to her.

"Make a sound. Let me know how good it feels," he implored her, pushing into her with a hard shove.

Karuka cried out, making sure she did not yell Sai's name. She yowled and moaned as he slowly brought her toward an orgasm. "Sasuke," she gasped, her eyes flying open wide in surprise when her body began to unwind into a lengthy, knee weakening orgasm. She relied on him to hold her up as he body trembled and collapsed beneath him.

"That's it, baby," he whispered, tenderly laying her body down on the bed from the waist up.

Karuka cried out in ecstasy when he lay down on top of her and rammed himself into her savagely. He was being rough but not really hurting her. Once again it stunned her when she felt pleasure from the man who had given her so much pain.

"Oh, Karuka, your sweet little body makes me feel so good," he moaned in her ear, kissing her cheek as he shoved into harder and harder.

Karuka shrieked each time he bottomed out inside her body, abusing her womb. Her belly was beginning to hurt way down deep. She hoped he came soon and ended this. He had made her walk awkwardly quite a few times before in her life. She did not want to have to endure that tonight in a formal dress and high heels. Her body relaxed when he began made his strange little grunting noise he always made before he climaxed. His body shuddered and one last forceful thrust it was over. She smiled as he kissed her face gently, lovingly. This reminded her why she loved him at first.

"Stay with me tonight. Let me take you to dinner. I want to bring you home and make love to you again. I want you to be mine again. I love you," he whispered, kissing her cheek.

Karuka closed her eyes. She would have to find some way to make Sai understand. She would have to be with her husband tonight. If she refused, she would not live to see another day. If she did not stay with him tonight, he would kill her.


	4. The Solution to her Problem

The Solution to her Problem

Sai paced back and forth on the deck listening to the waves below. Their cadenced sound offered him no comfort whatsoever tonight. Something was wrong. She should have been back by now. It was two in the morning, and he was worried. Enough was enough. He was going to find her. First he had to get a few things. There was a serious problem that needed to be solved, and he was the solution.

* * *

Karuka lay in the bed staring at the ceiling. She listened to her husband's breathing become deep and rhythmic signaling he was asleep. She tried to roll over and get comfortable but could not because he had handcuffed her to the headboard. He was not taking any chances on her sneaking out on him tonight. A noisy sigh escaped her she was finally granted a reprieve from the agonizing fierce sex that had lasted for hours. Despite knowing it only turned him on more, she had fought him. She had cried and pleaded with him to stop all to no avail except for heightening his arousal. Her body had been beaten and bruised inside and out. She was so tired of the pain. At least she could heal from the physical injuries. There seemed to be no end to the emotional damage he inflicted on her.

The evening began good, wonderful even. They had showered together after the shockingly tender and enjoyable sex that was an unexpected welcome from her arrival back home. They enjoyed a wonderful dinner together, and he had even taken her out dancing holding her close and kissing her gently during the slow songs. Dancing was something he did not do except when absolutely necessary such as when it was included at a party that he had received a formal invite to. Their lovemaking session had started out like it was going to be a repeat of earlier: slow, sweet, and gentle. She actually liked it and it felt good; then things started to get violent and frightening. Before she knew what was going on, she was handcuffed to the bed, and he was sitting on top of her choking her with his tie. Things had just started turning fuzzy and growing dark when he let her go. He stopped throttling her just before she lost consciosness and quite possibly her life. While she was coming back around, he used that time to hammer into her mercilessly with his oversized member. When she had fully recovered, he began to choke her again.

Karuka closed her eyes hoping sleep would claim her soon. She needed to escape her thoughts. Psycho from hell. She hated him. She almost wished she could cry to help drive away some of the fury and loathing that threatened to engulf her. Her husband reached out to touch her, and she edged away from him. Even in his sleep he was insecure and possessive. Bastard. Her body trembled helplessly with fear. How did she ever get here? The more pressing question is how can she get out other than in a body bag?

* * *

_Would you kill for me?_ At the time Sai thought the question had been asked in the heat of passion – insincere and meaningless. He realized she had meant the question as he stared down at her beaten and bruised body. The bastard had even tried to strangle her. It appeared he had choked her with something other than his hands and definitely more than once. The ligature marks were cut deep into her neck and were surrounded by purple bruises. He watched them both for a long moment as they slept completely unaware of his presence in the room. It was laughably ironic that he had so easily bypassed the security system of the top security expert of the country.

_Yes. _He had answered sincerely. He meant it, and he would follow through. Using his teeth to pull the cap off the syringe, he swiftly pushed the needle into her bare bottom. Her cry in the dark made her husband rouse slightly, and he reached over to grab her, laying his hand on her breast. Thank goodness she did not wake up because that would defeat the purpose of him giving her the shot to begin with. He did not want her to know anything that was about to go on here. He used his lock picking tools to hurriedly open the handcuffs and release her. After wrapping a blanket around her, he took her to the living room and laid her on the couch. He would return for her later.

It was her husband's turn. With great relish and sadistic glee, Sai stabbed the large gauge hypodermic needle into the abusive asshole's neck. The man's eyes flew open and he leaned down to be nose to nose with him so he could be seen. He wanted her husband to get a good look at the man who was about to kill him. He was shooting her husband full of a paralytic; he would be wide awake but unable to talk or move, and he would still feel pain.

"Congratulations, asshole," Sai whispered sinisterly, staring directly into the depthless black eyes that were like his. "You are about to enter the fourth gate of pain. Don't worry. I'll get you to the eighth gate of death soon… but not too soon."

Sai slid the sharp knife between two of Sasuke's ribs. It entered easily with no resistance whatsoever from the skin and muscle tissue. Pushing the knife handle down like he was trying to pry them apart, he heard a satisfying crack of the bone. The man was unable to have any kind reaction: he could not wince, he could not scream, he could not even blink his eyes.

"I am going to break every bone in your body. After that I will skin you alive. If you have not died by then because a vindictive higher power sees fit to make you suffer, I _might_ kill you to put you out of your misery," Sai whispered into the paralyzed man's ear. He knew he could hear every word. "Let's begin, shall we?"

* * *

Karuka woke up to the sound of crashing waves. She slowly opened her eyes to see she was in her room at the beach house.

"What the hell?" she muttered, sitting up to look around. She saw Sai sitting in the chair at the end of the bed asleep. A smile curled her lips when she remembered how he had nearly scared her out of her skin by being there yesterday morning. Moving off the bed in complete silence, she went to him. His hair was wet and his skin was still damp from a recent shower. He appeared drained as if he had been awake all night and working hard.

"Sai," she whispered, attempting to awaken him. He stirred and moaned, calling her name. "Sai, honey, come to bed with me."

Saying this caused him to open his eyes. He stood up from the chair and crawled into the bed under the soft blue and white sheets. Karuka lay down next to him, placing her back against his chest. She sighed with contentment when his arm moved around her waist and pulled her close to him. He immediately fell back into his exhausted sleep.

It was apparent to her that she had gotten here because of him, but how? How did he get past the security system? And her husband? Oh, god!

Karuka slid out of his arms and got out of the bed. What happened last night? She could not remember anything past arriving home. Where had her memory gone? Her eyes drifted back to the excessively tired man lying in the bed asleep. She decided to let him sleep then she would ask questions. There was a panicked knock on the door that frightened her. Once she gathered her wits, she went to open it. Ten Ten nearly bowled her over when the woman rushed in and grabbed in a bone crushing hug.

"Oh, thank god! You're all right! I was so scared!" the tearful and flustered woman yelled, holding her friend's face in her hands and looking her over.

"Of course, I'm all right. Probably because Sai brought me here. Honey, what's wrong? Why are you so frightened and upset?" she asked, wiping away some of the tears from Ten Ten's flushed face.

"You don't know?" the brown haired woman inquired incredulously.

"Know what?" Karuka stared at her in confusion. What the hell was wrong with her?

"Sasuke's dead. His assistant found him after coming to the house when he did not show up for work. It was so bad she had to be sedated and taken to the hospital. Sweetie, somebody tortured him and killed him," she said, watching her friend slowly wilt and make a slow motion descent toward the floor.

"He's dead," Karuka murmured in disbelief. There was no way he was dead. Things that evil never die.

"Yes, he's dead. Is Sai here?" Ten Ten looked around as if trying to find him.

"He's asleep. He's exhausted for some reason. It's as if he was…oh, no," she gasped, her hands flying to her mouth.

_Would you kill for me?_ Her own words echoed through her brain and haunted her. Dammit. She had hoped in some warped way when he replied yes he had meant it but she never dreamed in her wildest and most frightening nightmares he would actually do it. Assassin. He had been trained- raised - to be an assassin. She mumbled incoherently in her stunned state.

"Honey, what's wrong with you?" Ten Ten asked, shaking her friend who was babbling under her breath like a crazy woman. The occasional word would come out loud and clear: assassin, kill, death, murder, unbelievable were a few of the words that reached her ears clearly. She always thought his death, no matter how it occurred, would be and occasion for celebration. "She's lost her mind."

"What's going on?" Sai inquired sleepily, standing in the bedroom doorway naked.

"Damn!" Ten Ten yelled in admiration and surprise while she stared at him. "Go get some clothes on. She just found out her husband has been killed."

Sai waited until he turned his back to allow the smile to push his lips upward. So they found him already? That's okay. There were absolutely no traces left behind. Since he had drugged her and taken her away, there were no witnesses either. Her husband had obviously not cared for neighbors due to the secluded location of their home that was also surrounded by a twelve foot high brick wall complete with a pass coded gate. The gate had been pathetically easy to get by. He looked down at his foot after sliding on his jeans, noticing a spot of blood on his toenail. Dammit. He thought he had gotten rid of it all. But there had been so much blood. He had been covered in it, bathed in it, and had seeped into all his clothes even his favorite pair of boots. All of it was gone now. That asshole owed him a new pair of boots. His plans had suddenly changed last night. He now had a reason to stay, and she was standing in the living room of this little bungalow grieving over the grisly death of her murdered husband. She would soon be relieved was gone when the shock wore off. Yep. He had found a whole new motivation to live. She would need him now, and he would be there for her.

The police had shown up soon after Ten Ten's arrival to make the official announcement of finding her husband murdered. They apologized for her loss in a disturbingly dutiful and insincere manner then immediately launched into asking her questions. Despite the loud protests of Ten Ten, they continued to ask the questions using the typical "it's just procedure" excuse.

The question and answer session went like this:

_Where were you last night?_

With my husband until I met my friend and this artist at her bungalow here for a drink.

_You stayed the night here?_

Why yes, Officer. I couldn't drive home drunk now could I. (This was said with a definitive 'duh, you dumbass' attitude that was completely undetected by the policeman. Some detective there. He couldn't even detect thinly veiled sarcasm.)

_So you can account for your whereabouts all night long?_

Isn't that what I just said, Officer? (DUH!) It was a very uneventful but pleasant evening spent with my husband, then my friends.

_What are those marks around your neck?_

Hmmm?

_Those marks, Mrs. Uchiha? What are they from?_

Oh…(Dark blush, batting of eyelashes at the officer) They're from my husband. He likes it a little…rough.

_(The clearly uncomfortable detective clears his throat and blushes as well.) Is there any reason you would want to see your husband dead?_

No. Of course not. I love him.

Sai had wanted to give her a standing ovation for that award winning performance. That was why he wanted her totally unaware of anything that happened. She could answer sincerely and honestly without the slightest hint of subterfuge. They would never suspect her of anything because she had done nothing. He was sure she knew what he had done, that he was responsible for her husband's death, but she had not said a word. He pulled her closer to him, burying his face in her hair. She smelled like vanilla and lavender, sweet and innocent. He wanted to keep her that way.

Sai held her as she cried. It was only natural she would grieve so he did not begrudge her for it. He would actually be more worried about her if she did not mourn for her husband. If she did not have that normal reaction, it would mean she had the potential for being an even more frightening psychopath than he had been.

"Cry all you need to, Karuka. I won't leave you. I'll be right here," he assured her.


	5. Coming and Going

Coming and Going

Sai studied her as she slept. He wanted to draw her. Since he couldn't sleep so there was no time like the present. He was glad she was the type who wasn't creeped out easily. But of course after dealing with that husband she had how could she be? He carefully peeled the covers away from her body not wanting to wake her up. There was not much time left with her. The funeral was today, and he would be leaving her tomorrow. He would come back though. Without being sure of when, he had already purposed in his heart to return to her someday. Grabbing his sketch pad and pencils, he sat down in the chair to begin. For hours he patiently observed and drew, seeing her as a beautiful object rather than a naked woman. When he completed the work, then he viewed her as the lovely woman he enjoyed having sex with. Lying down next to her, he kissed her with a feather light touch that tickled her lips.

"Sai, honey," Karuka mumbled, sliding her arms around his neck.

"I would say I didn't mean to wake you, but I did," he murmured in her ear, kissing her cheek before reclaiming her lips.

"It's all right. You're leaving me tomorrow. I want to enjoy every moment possible with you," she whispered, pulling him on top of her.

Sai felt a twinge deep inside of him that he didn't understand. What was this feeling? It was like a sad ache pulling at his heart. He entered her needing her comforting warmth and the pleasure she gave him. Her loud sigh washed over him like one of the waves that rippled along the ocean below them.

Karuka held him tightly, wanting him to be as close to her as possible. She had resigned herself to the fact that she would most likely never see him again when he left. She knew Ten Ten had been trying to convince him to come back for another exhibition but so far he had been evasive and noncommittal. However, she knew his departure was coming so she was prepared. Besides, she had a life to rebuild and the last thing she wanted was a relationship. She would finally be free after all these years. She kissed her savior, relishing the texture of his soft lips. It still astonished her how he could be so tender and delicate with her yet those same hands had slowly tortured and killed her asshole husband. She never asked him any questions because it was easier pretending it did not happen if they never spoke about it.

"Karuka, do I make you feel good?" he asked, holding her face between his hands as he unhurriedly made love to her. He wanted this to last as long as possible.

"Yes, sweetheart, you do," she sighed, moaning to reinforce her statement.

Sai kissed her eyelids after her eyes fluttered closed. He liked hearing her use terms of endearment when speaking to him. If only she would ask, he would stay – just a little longer anyway. He kissed her as he gradually brought her to an orgasm that left her shuddering and breathless beneath him. Once he was satisfied, he lay next to her, holding her tightly in his arms with his head nestled between her breasts.

Karuka took in shallow breaths because he was embracing her so forcefully she could not breathe in any deeper. Something had changed in him and she could not say exactly what it was but she sensed it. She had the distinct feeling that he wanted something from her; something he was afraid she would not willingly give to him.

"Sai," she began, noticing he relaxed his grip on her but did not let go. "If I asked, would you stay?"

Oh, god there it was. Sai relied on the skills he had learned to block having a reaction to her question. "Are you asking?" he inquired, kissing her breast that was next to his mouth.

"Would you stay?" She tilted chin upwards with her finger so she could see his face. She had been content with his head snuggled between her breasts, but she wanted to see his eyes. There was an indistinct flicker of emotion in his dark eyes but too vague for her to know what it was. Happiness? Anger? Sadness? He was hard to read because he hid his emotions so well. "Will you stay with me?" she asked again.

"Yes," he answered directly.

"For how long?"

"I don't know."

* * *

Karuka stood in front of the Uchiha family tomb with Ten Ten and Sai at her sides. Her fingers traced the kanji symbols for Sasuke's name as tears fell from her eyes. She mourned for the man she thought he was and the life she could have had with him more than for the reality of those things. It made it easier to sincerely grieve for him and get him out of her system completely. She pressed her forehead against the tall, unadorned monument, then kissed it to say good-bye. She would never come back here again. There was no reason to pay respects and give honor year after year to a man who did not deserve it. His employees and 'friends' if he really had such a thing would be giving him a memorial service tomorrow that she would not be attending. When the coroner had released Sasuke's body, she had it cremated immediately and brought here to have it over and done with so she could get on with her life. Despite the vehement protests of the funeral home director, she had insisted. With the help of copious amounts of cash he broke protocol and fulfilled her unusual demands.

Karuka thanked Ten Ten for coming to be with her and for her support through all the years of abuse and general crap from her husband. She hugged and kissed her faithful best friend who told her she could continue to stay at the beach house as long as she liked. After shedding a few tears together, more from sheer relief that the madness had ended than sorrow for his death, they parted ways with the promise to see each other soon. She walked to Sai who had been waiting patiently for her by his motorcycle.

"Are you all right?" he asked, opening his arms for her as she strode toward him.

"I'm fine. Better than I have been in years," she said, walking straight into his arms and giving him a crushing passionate kiss. Her hands slid over his bare middle that was open for viewing and touching from the cut off black t shirt he wore. She was glad he had not yet put on his leather jacket.

"Can I take you right here?" he inquired, kissing her neck. He pushed her dress up to her hips running his fingers over her bare behind. This actually brought a smile to his lips. She had come prepared for this. "You are a wicked little thing, aren't you?"

"Kind of appropriate don't you think?" she asked, glancing over her shoulder at the monument she had been standing at moments before. "It's my final fuck you to the husband. But it's you I'll be fucking in front of him."

"Mmmm, lucky me," he purred, leaning back so she could pull his rigid and ready member out of his leather pants. He pulled her up and slid her onto him as he leaned against the seat of the motorcycle. He pulled her knee up to the seat, moaning loudly as she opened wider and he sank in deeper.

"Oh, yes, we're both very lucky people," she said, pushing her tongue through his slightly parted lips before her mouth covered his.

This reminded him of the first time they had sex. She wanted it dirty and sloppy; completely animalistic with unbridled lust to sate a demanding hunger inside of her. He would more than gladly help her with that. He held onto her as she rode him hard with wanton desire. Her moans echoed through the graveyard sounding like a rogue spirit of one of the deceased haunting the area. Tears began to flow down her face as the emotions coursed through her body as strongly as the pleasure.

"Go ahead, baby. Cry for him. Let go of all that hurt," he coaxed, moaning with his own pleasure as her vaginal muscles clamped down on him inside of her. "Oh, yes! Take it out me." She could abuse him like that all she wanted, and he was hoping for more. He cried out her name when she did it again.

Karuka stuck his thumb in her mouth to suck on it so she would not get any noisier than she already had. This caused him to climax with a shout of her name and thrust into her convulsively until she did as well. She leaned against him breathing heavily while he held her and nuzzled into her hair.

"Just tell me when you're ready to go," he said, sighing contentedly when she did not move or speak.

The sound of a high pitched squeaking noise caught there attention. An ancient looking groundskeeper was slowly walking down the path toward them pulling a cart behind him. He silently nodded at them with a smile on his wrinkled face and continued on his way without stopping.

Karuka and Sai had not moved a muscle and watched with gaping faces as the little old man disappeared into the shed behind the tree line. They began to laugh hysterically more from genuine surprise from his sudden appearance rather than embarrassment from their compromising position.

"Guess we made his day, huh?" she chuckled, peeling herself away from Sai's magnificent body.

"I don't know about him, but I know you made mine," he rejoined, pulling himself together before mounting the motorcycle.

"Let's go home," she whispered in his ear after mounting up behind him with her arms holding him tightly.

Sai liked the sound of that. Home.

* * *

"How long has he been gone?" Ten Ten inquired.

"A month now," Karuka answered, sipping her hot tea.

"Are you all right?" She stared at her friend with worry.

"I'm fine." A ghost of a smile touched her lips.

Sai stayed for six month after Sasuke's burial. That was much longer than Karuka had anticipated him staying. She enjoyed her time with him, taking each day as if it would be their last. She knew the end would come, and he would be gone. Then it happened without warning and without a good-bye. She woke up one morning, and he was gone as if he had never existed in her life. That was the day her life started again in reality. She had been living in a dream world with him at the ocean side cottage; days full of pleasure that sated the never ending carnal hunger while making promises that would never be fulfilled.

Karuka put the mansion up for sale that had been sitting vacant because she had no intention of living there again. Her husband's estate and will had been settled soon after his burial. She got it all because there was no one else. It was actually quite shocking exactly what he did have. She sold off the businesses he owned to the highest bidders. All of the other assets – homes, cars, and any other possessions – were sold or auctioned; she wanted all traces of him erased from her life. She did not even bother taking her clothes and sold them all as well. Buying the building next door to Ten Ten's art gallery, she fixed up the loft on the second floor for living space. The bottom floor she dedicated to the wares of local artisans such as glass makers and potter's because it was a perfect complement to her friend's art gallery.

A week ago, Karuka began feeling very tired and had a problem with throwing up. She thought she had eaten some bad food and shrugged it off. When the vomiting and fatigue continued on a daily basis, she became concerned it was something more.

"I went to the doctor today," Karuka announced.

"What did you find out? It's not cancer or anything is it?" Ten Ten asked with a pinched expression of concern.

"I'm six weeks pregnant," she responded calmly, sitting her tea cup down on the table.

"But you can't be. It's impossible. Right?" her friend asked.

"I thought so. I guess a miracle happened," she said, pressing her hands to her belly.

"What about Sai? Are you going to try to find him?"

"He will be back one day. He can find out then."

* * *

"I have an amazing new artist. You've got to see!" Ten Ten exclaimed, dragging her into the gallery.

Karuka sighed holding on to her patience. After all these years, her best friend had not changed. Her jaw dropped when she looked at the sketches on large canvasses, some of which had been turned into paintings. Not only was the artwork stunning and familiar, the subject was shocking because it was her. There were works of her smiling, crying, sleeping, showing a range of emotions while doing mundane daily things. In most of them she was naked but wore clothes in a few. One of the black and white sketches was of her kneeling in front of Sasuke's monument kissing it. The last sketch was in color of her and Sai together with a little girl sitting between them. She had black hair and green eyes. Around the edges of the canvas were smaller drawings of her in various stages of her pregnancy and sketches of her daughter from newborn to her present age of three. Her shaking fingers covered her lips as silent tears slid down her face. He had been watching her silently for the last four years? He disappeared, but he never left. Why?

"Karuka," Sai called behind her.

She hit her knees unable to bear the burden of the shock any longer. A strangled sob tore from her lips before she could cover her mouth with her hand. 'Why?' kept echoing through her head. After struggling to her feet, she turned to see him standing there with their daughter in his arms. Another sob was wrenched out of her as she looked at the both of them.

"Mommy, don't cry," her sweet baby begged as she held on to her daddy. It was the child's first time ever seeing him.

"You named her Aislinn because it means dream. She was your dream come true," he said, walking toward Karuka.

"Aislinn, do you know who this man is?" she asked her daughter, feeling more tears running down hers cheeks. She watched as her daughter pressed her little hands to Sai's cheeks and studied him carefully with her jewel like green eyes.

"He's my Daddy. I know him because he looks like me," the child answered candidly. Her little brow furrowed as her mother wailed and more tears flooded down her cheeks. Her lower lip began to tremble as tears filled her eyes while watching her mother. "Mommy, please don't cry. You always said Daddy would come back some day. He's here! Please be happy, Mommy! Please!"

"She is happy, baby," he told his crying daughter. "It's just what women do. They cry for all kinds of reasons. You'll understand when you're older," he assured her, kissing her cheek.

"Aislinn, come here to Aunt Ten Ten. Mommy and Daddy need to talk," Ten Ten said, holding her arms open for the child after Sai sat her down on her feet. She scooped the tearful girl up and disappeared to the back room to give them privacy.

Karuka voiced the question that kept tormenting her. "Why? Why did you just watch our lives in secret from the sidelines? Why didn't you come back and be a part of our lives? Why?" she screamed the last one, rushing toward him to beat his chest with her fists. "Why did you leave me alone for so long? Why did you deprive our daughter of her father?"

Sai grabbed her hammering fists. It had begun to hurt and it was hard from him to breathe. She continued to scream curses and questions at him. He wished he had a good answer for her questions but he did not. There was no reason, no excuse, nothing he could say to take away the pain or take back the last four years.

"I'm here now," he said, shaking her to try to calm her down.

Karuka wrenched her hands free from his grip. She stepped back from him then quickly moved forward to punch him hard enough he fell to his knees. She had been saving that up for the last four years.

"It would have been better if you were gone. You hid in the shadows and watched us. You couldn't be a man and walk back into my life…her life. You bastard," she snarled, spitting at him.

Sai wiped her spittle off his cheek with the back of his hand. He stood to his feet as he wiped it on his jeans while he looked at her without the slightest hint of any emotion in his eyes.

"I should go," he said, turning to leave.

"Go! Run! Do what you do best! Just leave you selfish, irresponsible bastard!" she screamed after him.

What the hell did he expect? A warm homecoming? Open arms and grateful kisses? Last time she checked, hell had not frozen over.

"Daddy? Daddy!" Aislinn screamed, running after him.

"No, baby!" Karuka yelled, chasing after her and grabbing her just as the child reached him beside his motorcycle. Her daughter struggled from her grip and attached herself to her father's legs, sitting down on his heavy biker boots.

"Karuka, please," he begged, peeling the child from his legs and holding her in his arms. "Can I stay for a while to get to know my daughter?"

"So you can break her heart too?" the irate woman demanded, glaring at him.

"What? No! Please, can I have a chance?" he implored her.

"Mommy, please," Aislinn begged, wrapping her little arms around his neck.

"Dammit! That's not fair!" she bellowed, turning her back to them.

"Karuka, please. You have to," Ten Ten murmured, standing in front of her in the doorway.

"I don't have to do a damn thing," Karuka muttered, glaring at her best friend. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew she would regret this, but she was outnumbered and outgunned with emotional blackmail from her daughter's sad emerald eyes. She whirled around striding up to Sai so fiercely he took several steps backwards. Shaking her finger in his face, she growled threateningly, "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for _my_ daughter. If you break her heart, you won't live to regret it."

"Y-yes, ma-ma'am," Sai stuttered, holding his daughter tightly for protection.

A pissed off mama is a terrifying thing. He would be sure not do anything to make her even more angry with him. For the first time ever in his life he felt fear. It was exhilarating! It was arousing and almost orgasmic. He suddenly remembered why he had almost given in and fallen in love with her. She could make him feel things; things he had never felt before, things he thought he was incapable of feeling. He looked at his daughter in his arms. He had fallen victim to a serious case of the dumbass disease. He had a lot to atone for, many years and many stupid decisions to compensate for.

"Hey, baby," he said to his daughter as he watched her mother stomp back into the art gallery while venting loudly to Ten Ten.

"Yes, Daddy?" she asked, looking at him intently.

"Wanna go buy Mommy some flowers?"

"Sure, Daddy! Her favorite is a wildflower bouquet. She gets them from her boyfriend all the time."

"Her what?"


	6. The Boyfriend Experience

The Boyfriend Experience

Karuka was sitting on the front steps of her artisan shop anxiously waiting for her daughter and the child's father to return. The sight of a familiar redhead walking down the sidewalk toward her made her jump to her feet. The setting sun made his spiky dark auburn hair virtually glow. His hair was the same color as hers. She could not wait to look into his remarkable teal colored eyes that reminded her of a tropical ocean paradise and soothed her so much. He was wearing his usual long maroon coat with the high collar over jeans and a black t-shirt. She loved artists and the way they dressed. She had met him when he brought in a set of wine glasses he had made. The stems where shaped liked angels with the wings holding the bell of the glass. He had brought her many more unusual sets since then that always sold within days of their arrival. They were always brought in sets of two and each set was completely unique and different from the last. He explained that he designed them specifically for couples which was why there was always just two. After six months he brought in a set with hearts in the middle of the stems. The kanji symbol for love was etched on the hearts. He had that symbol tattooed on his forehead. She had always thought that was an odd place for a tattoo but of course he was an unusual man. She seemed to have a real penchant for bizarre men with one name. His name is Gaara.

"_These are for you," he said, pushing the glasses into her hands. "I mean for you personally. A gift. From me."_

"_Gaara, would you like to stay and have a drink with me?" Karuka inquired, staring at the beautiful glasses._

"_Yes, I would," he replied enthusiastically, giving her the first smile of many more she would put on his face._

That was two years ago. The rest as they say is history.

"Hi, my love," Karuka said, touching the tattoo on his forehead with her fingertips.

"Hello, my heart," he responded, pressing his fingers to her chest over her heart.

This was the way they began greeting each other on their first anniversary of being a couple. So far Karuka had refused to marry him but it did not deter him from asking every six months to the day when he had given her the glasses and they began their relationship. It was coming close to another six month mark when he would ask her to marry him once again.

"Do you love me?" he asked, flattening his palm over her heart.

"With all my heart," she answered, kissing the tattoo after rising slightly on her tiptoes. He was small built in size and stature, being just a little taller than her. She smiled at him gazing into his wonderful aqua eyes. She shivered with anticipation of the kiss that would come next.

"That's him!" Aislinn yelled with excitement when she saw a redheaded man pulling her mother into his arms to kiss her.

"That's him," repeated Sai with venom in his voice as he glared at the diminutive man canoodling the mother of his child. He held the bouquet in his hand with a crushing force, squeezing the stems to hard he was actually extracting fluid from them.

"Mommy! Gaara!" she squealed with delight running into the scary looking man's arms when he held them open for her.

"What the hell," Sai muttered, staring at the man with frighteningly pale skin and dark black rings around his eyes. Was that eyeliner? Holy hell! Maybe he did not have to worry about this man screwing her or ever having had sex with Karuka. But the way they were kissing and the way the man held her told a different story.

"Gaara, this is Sai," Karuka introduced them. "He's the sperm donor."

"Sperm donor?" Sai hissed, staring at her.

"What would you call it?" she demanded, giving him a deadly glare.

"Hi, I'm the sperm donor. Gaara, right?" he asked, shaking the interloper's hand. Then it hit him. Who is the real intruder here? Unfortunately the answer was him: the man who had watched her for four years with a distinctly stalker-like obsession. The man who left her alone and never bothered to make his presence known, choosing to be a living ghost that haunted her. He was the sperm donor.

"Well, I would ask you to stay for dinner, but – " Karuka was interrupted by her soft spoken boyfriend.

"Oh, come on," Gaara said, keeping his arm around his girlfriend possessively as he stared at the dark haired man in front of him. "Let him stay. You always cook too much anyway."

"You cook?" Sai asked skeptically.

"Yes, quite well actually. But an emotionless, uninvolved sperm donor wouldn't know that now would he?" she inquired with a painfully barbed edge to her voice.

"Here!" he exclaimed, thrusting the flowers in her face. "These are for you."

"Uh, thank you," she muttered, taking the poor drooping, strangled flowers from him. Maybe she could save them by putting them in water. She walked into the shop grabbing an ornate glass vase from a pedestal and continuing up the stairs to the loft.

Sai watched her as she arranged the flowers in the vase that looked like someone had captured the effect of water splashing into the air in glass. It was quite striking and beautiful.

"That is an amazing vase. Who made it?" he asked, staring at her face as a grin bursting with pride curled her lips.

"Gaara did," she answered, returning his penetrating gaze.

"You love him don't you?"

"Why do you want to hurt yourself by asking such an obvious question?"

Sai kept his eyes on her as she walked across the living room to sit down beside her boyfriend on the floor where he was helping Aislinn, who was sitting in his lap, put together a puzzle. His chest constricted hard enough to ache when he watched Karuka kiss the man briefly on the lips before settling her head onto his shoulder. They looked so happy; a happy little family that could have been his. He had to turn away from the scene before his chest tightened so much it kept his heart from beating. Somehow he made it through dinner. Afterward, he held Aislinn in his arms while they all talked about a subject they understood and loved which was art and its many forms from paintings to dance.

"All right, sweetheart, it's time for bed," Karuka announced when she saw her daughter's eyelids growing very heavy as she snuggled into Sai's chest. She stood up to take her from him but stopped when he held up his hand.

"Can I take her? I want to tuck her in," he said, turning the little girl into his chest to hold her tightly as he stood up from the couch.

"Sure. Her bedroom is the one on the left side of the hall." She silently watched as her daughter wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

"I love you, Daddy."

Dammit.

"So I'm guessing you received that donation the old fashioned way and not from a sperm bank, huh?" Gaara commented, sliding his arms around her waist. He pressed a kiss to the back of her neck feeling the goose bumps rise to the surface of her skin.

"You knew that from the beginning. You're not that dumb," she snapped at him, turning to face him. She kissed him briefly, pulling back to look into his eyes.

"The past is the past. I have you now," he said, kissing her again. His slender fingers curved around the back of her neck gently holding her in place for a longer kiss.

Karuka put her hands on his hips when he deepened the kiss, his tongue moving across her bottom lip in a teasing manner. Her tongue darted out playfully to touch his making them both sigh from the sensual contact. Her fingers gripped his body pulling him into her. She wanted him so badly but there was someone who needed to go away first. It shouldn't be that difficult. Sai had a talent for disappearing. Her body quivered with arousal when Gaara's tongue slid into her mouth tasting the sweet red wine she had drank after dinner.

"Oh, my god you taste good," he whispered against her lips before going back for a second taste.

Karuka moaned when his fingers invaded her hair, stroking and pulling slightly while his tongue touched hers and invited her to play with his. Thinking only of the appetite for him growing within her and making her feel heated and damp, her hand slid over the stiff rise in his jeans.

"Karuka," he gasped, seizing her wrist and pulling her hand away. "We're not alone."

Karuka chewed her bottom as she stared into his eyes. No, they weren't. Her guest, however, was busy doing some exploring of his own in her bedroom.

Sai was astounded at the peacock blue color of the walls of her bedroom. In the very middle of the room was a simple bed that was nothing more than a king sized mattress on a basic square wooden frame with short legs. A huge umbrella of green net like fabric flowed from the ceiling and surrounded the bed. The bed was covered in silk sheets in the pattern and colors of peacock feathers. Whoever decorated this room really had a liking for the pretentious, flamboyant birds because everything was painted in that color scheme and had real feathers or a painted feather attached to it. It was quite unusual in a striking way, but he would have never guessed she would like such colorful, showy things. But of course he had never bothered to get to know much about her other than her body and what pleased her sexually.

"What are you doing in here?" Karuka demanded, leaning against the doorframe.

"Your bedroom is quite lovely. It looks like an artist's showpiece. Who designed it?" he inquired, walking toward her.

"One of Ten Ten's artist boyfriends. He had a real job as an interior designer in addition to being a sculptor. I allowed him to have free reign to practice his interior design skills and was quite pleased with the results," she said, looking around her bedroom. Her eyes lit on him and she sighed loudly with obvious frustration. "Can you get out, please? I'm uncomfortable with you being in here."

"I remember once upon a time when this was the only place you wanted to be in. We would go days without seeing anything besides the four walls of that cottage bedroom where we would make love all day long. Remember?" he asked, pushing a curl behind her ear. He quickly pulled away when she jerked back from him so violently he would have thought he burned her with his touch.

"Yeah. I remember," she replied with anger tingeing her voice. "Sai, the past is gone and so is that woman. I'm not that person anymore. Thank you for being with me through that time. Thank you for setting me free."

Sai held his breath as she stepped forward and pressed her lips to his for a brief kiss. He attempted to put his arms around her but she moved back swiftly before he could catch her.

"You saved my life, Sai and that's not an understatement. But…but things have changed. You had several years, many opportunities to come back, but you didn't. So I'm asking you to please leave," she stated with a definite edge of sorrow to her voice.

"I want to be a part of Aislinn's life. I'm sorry I missed my chance with you. You have no idea how sorry I am for that. I'm begging you please, please don't keep my daughter from me," he said, reaching out to take her hand in his.

Karuka sniffed fighting the tears that burned her eyes and threatened to fall. She was tired. She wanted to be with Gaara. She wanted Sai to leave. Right now she did not have the strength nor the desire to think about this. Pressing her fingertips against the bridge of her nose and squeezing her eyes shut, she took a deep breath.

"Come back tomorrow and we'll discuss this." She hoped she would not regret allowing him into her daughter's life.

"All right. Good night, Karuka." He kissed her on the cheek and walked past her. He nodded an acknowledgement to the boyfriend as he rushed to the door. Tomorrow.

"Are you all right?" Gaara asked her, coming into the bedroom where she still stood in the middle of the room.

"I will be. Gaara," she whispered, turning to look at him. She watched as he closed the door and locked it behind him.

"Do you love me?" he inquired in a soft voice, pressing his palm to her chest.

"With all my heart," she responded, moving toward him to kiss the tattoo. She sighed loudly when she felt his lips on her neck and his fingers on the buttons of her shirt. His fingers slid over her shoulders pushing the shirt down her arms. Her skin tingled from his touch and a delicious shiver ran down her spine when his soft hair tickled her chest as his lips pressed a kiss to the swell of her breast over her lacey black bra.

"You have such wonderful taste in lingerie," he commented pressing his hands over her breasts to feel her rigid nipples against his palms through the thin layer of lace. He slid his hands down her belly, kneeling down in front of her.

Karuka looked down at him meeting his gaze as he pressed a kiss to her belly button. Her fingers brushed through his soft auburn colored spikes as he kissed beneath her belly button. She gasped when she felt his tongue run across her belly above the top of her skirt. Her body trembled slightly as he pushed down her skirt and panties together. She closed her eyes as he stood back up in front of her, pulling her into his arms for a kiss. She moaned when his fingers deftly unhooked her bra and freed her breasts to be touched directly by his hands this time. Her skin felt as if an electric current had been applied to it because the nerves where so sensitive to his delicate touch. She willingly responded by backing up when he pushed her toward the bed. When he stopped at the end, she pushed aside the filmy curtain and lay down to watch him undress. He was slim but he was muscled; sinewy and hard beneath his milky white skin. She could hardly wait to see him.

Gaara pulled the t-shirt over his head. He ran his hands through his hair, keeping his eyes closed as his allowed his hands to sensually glide down his body to the button of his jeans. He had to look to see the expression of childlike wonderment on her face as she stared at him. Her ability to maintain enthusiastic innocence even during such an erotic moment had always intrigued him. He smiled as she chewed on her lower lip and shifted on the bed to rub her legs together. Oh, yeah, she liked this a lot. Her eyes met his and a soft blush tinted her cheeks. Damn, that made him horny as hell and he wanted her even more. After disposing of the jeans and underwear, he stood in front of her completely naked and waiting. She always surprised him in these moments. He would like nothing more to jump her bones, but she was always worth the wait. When she beckoned him to her with a crooked forefinger, he gladly obliged.

Karuka vibrated with exhilaration and eagerness as he crawled toward her on all fours on the bed. Oh, he was so sexy and gorgeous. She sat up on her knees, meeting him in the middle of the huge bed where he rose up on his knees to greet her with a kiss. She pushed him over onto his back, carefully impaling herself on his rock hard member that pointed at the ceiling. He felt so good. He was the only man she had been with since Sai. He was the only man she wanted.

"Gaara, my love," she moaned in his ear, nipping the sensitive area below his earlobe. She liked the way he always took her carefully and easily, never rushed or hurried, taking his time to slowly drive her crazy with pleasure.

"Karuka, I love you," he mumbled back, gasping when she clenched him with her body. Rolling her over so that he was on top, he took long, teasing strokes nearly pulling out before he slid all the down to the hilt. He was fully entrenched in her body, grinding his pubic bone into her to make her moan his name. Continuing the grinding to stimulate her, he made her have an orgasm that left her squirming beneath him and pressing grateful kisses all over his face.

Karuka giggled with delight and contentment when he held her by the hips and put her back on top of him again. She leaned forward with her hands on either side of his head. Moving up and down and then rotating her hips in a circle, she worked both of them into a frenzy of pleasure that ended with a breath taking simultaneous orgasm. She enclosed his neck with her arms when he sat up to hold her in his lap while remaining inside her body. Their hands slid over each other's bodies, luxuriating in the texture of each other's flesh under their fingertips. They kissed, hugged, and touched until she felt his manhood twitching and swelling within her.

"Oh, Gaara," she groaned with ecstasy when he shifted beneath her. She rose up slightly to move him inside of her. They tentatively made love that way, holding and kissing each other as they gently rocked their hips together. It was very erotic and intimate to make love in this position adding emotional bliss to the pure physical pleasure.

"I want to be with you forever. Please, please marry me," he begged, pushing his hips into her and drawing a moan from his lips.

"Don't ask me that now. It's not fair," she panted, a strangled cry passing her lips as the pleasure mounted getting closer to a climax.

"I'm not officially asking yet. But I want you. I need you," he whispered against her neck, pressing his hands into the bed so he could thrust up into her.

Karuka groaned, pressing her lips to his neck to stifle the loud cries that wanted to come out. She felt the same way. She could not imagine her life without him. Her breath hitched as the ecstasy spiked and began to unwind, making her jerk forward into him as she gave in to the orgasm and allowed it to overtake her.

"Oh, my wonderful lover, yes," she moaned in his ear, hanging onto him as he forcefully thrust his hips at her to achieve his climax. Her eyes held his as he panted and groaned his way through the orgasm, his body shuddering under hers. "You're so marvelous to me. You're perfect and the only man I want."

"Then marry me," he implored her, holding her waist so she could not move. He studied her eyes as they stared at each other for a long moment.

"You said you weren't asking."

"I changed my mind. I'm asking. Will you marry me?"

"Gaara…"

"Karuka, I love you. I love your little girl as if she were my own. I won't wait around forever. You can't expect any man to do that."

Karuka sighed noisily, closing her eyes. She laid her forehead against his chin taking deliberate deep breaths because suddenly it was hard to breathe. He was right. It was unfair of her to make him wait much longer. This was his third time asking and a man can only take so much rejection before cutting his losses and moving on.

"Yes," she answered resolutely.

"What?" he inquired, pushing her head back so he could see her face.

"Yes, dammit, I'll marry you," she muttered, opening her eyes to look at him.

"Oh, wow, don't do me any favors," he mumbled, pulling in a breath with a hiss from the pain of her pinching and twisting his nipple. To his great distress, she did not let go. "Ow, ow, ow," he whined, rubbing his sore nipple when she finally released it. "Damn, point taken. You are doing me a favor."

With a smile on her face, she playfully snapped, "Don't you forget it either."

How could he forget? The nipple twist would be a reminder for at least a day or two. By the time the soreness wore off, she would have a ring.


	7. Saying Goodbye

Saying Good-bye

Karuka was alone when she woke up. She rolled over onto her belly for a nice luxurious stretch. Upon hearing voices she sprung up to her elbows, listening intently. The soothing voice of her boyfriend reached her ears and her daughter's high pitched child voice chimed in with his. A third voice joined in that made her groan. Sai. Dammit! Why the hell won't he go away?

"How long are you planning on staying?" Gaara inquired.

"I'm not sure. Ten Ten has another exhibition of my artwork scheduled to open this Friday. You will come won't you?" Sai asked.

Karuka planted her face in her pillow and screamed. This can't be happening. She quit screaming when she heard them talking again.

"All of these pieces feature your girlfriend. I'm sure you'd be interested in seeing them," Sai remarked slyly.

Karuka could practically see the smug smile on his face because she could hear the arrogance in his voice.

"She's not my girlfriend," Gaara corrected him.

"What?" the other man inquired sounding surprised.

"I asked her to marry me. She said yes. She became my fiancée last night. I'm sure I have you to thank for that," he responded with obvious vindictiveness in his voice.

Ouch! Karuka slapped her hand over her mouth which muffled her giggle into a snort. Gaara was her hero in so many ways. He had saved her from believing that real love did not exist. He rescued her from becoming a lonely, bitter woman who would taint her daughter to hate men and view them as selfish, worthless creatures. Although some men were still definitely self-centered and useful only a purely aesthetic level present company in the kitchen included. Sai was a beautiful man and an astounding artist but perfectly useless except for great sex. A lecherous grin curled her lips. She had to admit he had served his purposed quite well there. He had also given her something she never thought any man could; he gave her a daughter that she loved with all of her heart.

Karuka decided she better get up and get in there before things got really ugly. She stopped by her daughter's room to find her playing quietly with her dolls. She had been hoping the child had not been present for their conversation. The two men were glaring at each other across the counter when she walked into the kitchen. It appeared she had arrived just before the fight broke out.

"Did I miss something?" she inquired, glancing back and forth between the two men.

"Nope. Not a thing," Sai answered, glaring at her when she slid her arms around the redhead in the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of jeans. He could kick that man's skinny ass all over this town.

"Are you ready to go ring shopping?" Gaara asked her. Neither one of them were sparing Sai's feelings because they were convinced he had none. What man could indifferently turn his back on his child if he had feelings?

"Yes, I'm ready," she answered him, giving him a kiss on the lips. She turned her attention to the man who was watching them from the other side of the counter. "Would you like to spend the day with Aislinn? You'll have to stay at the gallery with Ten Ten of course but I assumed you would be there anyway."

"Sure. Of course," Sai replied distractedly, staring out of the large windows of the loft apartment.

"Aislinn! Are you ready to go?" Karuka asked, walking back toward her daughter's bedroom.

Aislinn was standing in the hall with tears running down her face grasping her teddybear tightly.

"What's wrong, baby?" She knelt down in front of her crying child to wipe away the tears.

"But I want to go with you! I want to be with you and Gaara!" she wailed, huge tears rolling from her eyes.

"Well, sweetie you can go with us. We just thought –"

"You thought wrong, Mommy! I want to be with you and Gaara!"

Damn. Sai was not having a good day.

* * *

"What about this one?" Gaara asked, pointing to the plain diamond solitaire.

"No, too plain," Aislinn answered who standing between them tightly grasping each of their hands. "What about that one?"

The couple looked at the complete wedding set that looked trees cut into the gold bands with emeralds for the leaves. The engagement ring was a square shaped emerald on a plain band.

"Can you afford that?" Karuka asked, looking at the other rings.

"Of course I can since you've been selling my glassware. Besides, I'd do anything for you," he replied, smiling as she blushed a dark red.

"It's perfect!" Aislinn shouted with excitement. "I'll have a Mommy and a Daddy. We'll be a real family."

Karuka and Gaara stared at each other over the child's head. Karuka shrugged so Gaara let it go. They were allowing Aislinn to make her own decisions about the man who was her father. Even the child was smart enough to know the difference between a father and a daddy. She was desperate to have a Daddy who would love her and always be there with her. It would be better for her than a sometimes Daddy who breezes through town every few years. Hopefully, Sai would figure it out soon as well.

* * *

"You're turning her against me on purpose aren't you?" Sai accused after they showed him and Ten Ten the rings at the gallery telling the story of how Aislinn picked them out. They did not even mention her calling Gaara Daddy.

"Sai, wait!" Karuka yelled when he made a hasty retreat from the gallery. What a wonderful time for him to finally discover emotions. She followed him out back where stood in the tacky garden her and Ten Ten had made just for fun. Mismatched flowers and shrubs along with miscellaneous sculptures and yard signs filled the back yard. Trails were cut among them with paving stones that they had made themselves. They had covered every inch of the yard with something for the sole purpose of not having to mow it.

Sai was staring at the paving stone beneath his feet. It had a crudely drawn picture of the beachside cottage on it. To the side, their names had been written in the cement. _Never forget _had been written on there as well.

"Did you make this?" he asked, crouching down to trace the letters with his fingers.

"Yes, I did," she answered, staring at his back.

"Never forget what?" he questioned, standing up to face her.

"I don't know. It's stupid," she mumbled, backing away from him.

"Never forget what?" he repeated in a severe manner, grabbing her shoulders to halt her retreat.

"I made that three years ago! I made it just after I had Aislinn. I still had hope you would come back. I had hope that you loved me. I-I," she stuttered, avoiding his eyes.

"You what? Tell me, Karuka!" he demanded, shaking her until her eyes met his.

"I loved you!" she yelled, the tears flowing down her cheeks. "I loved you, okay! I know I shouldn't have but I did."

"Dammit," he muttered, releasing her and turning his back to her. He pressed his hand against his chest. There was that damn ache again. He knew what it was now. It was the same feeling he had felt for the past four years every time her saw her. That same pain had plagued him when he saw his little girl for the first time. It had stabbed him with varying degrees of agony throughout the years as he had watched them from a distance – a distance he should have traversed but never did, allowing time and opportunities to slip past him. At this moment, he recognized it was too late. All of that was gone - she was gone - and it was his fault. He swept past her and went into the gallery.

"NO!" she screamed, when he grabbed canvas of a black and white drawing of her naked and asleep and began destroying it. She ran to him when he seized another one and started ripping it apart. "Stop it! Stop it!"

Karuka froze when he turned into her, dropping to his knees to press his face into her belly. He was emitting this awful sound and her belly felt wet through her shirt. Her hand cupped her chin and pulled his face up to see it.

"Oh, my god," she gasped, gaping at him in disbelief: he was crying. She found this quite disturbing and a little terrifying. She let go of his chin and he immediately pressed his face back into her tummy to continue sobbing with complete abandon. Her fingers found themselves twisting into his hair, then stroking through his smooth thick black hair. She closed her eyes and continued the comforting gesture, allowing him to cry as long as he wanted to. The others must have heard the commotion and disappeared into the back.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, repeating it over and over.

"Sai, stop," she murmured, dropping her hands from his head. She opened her eyes to look down at him. They held each other's gaze for a very long time.

"Karuka," Sai sighed her name, sliding one of his hands under shirt. He pushed up the fabric so he could press his lips to her belly.

"Sai, don't," she begged him when his eyes met hers briefly before pressing another kiss to her sensitive skin above the waist of her skirt. "Please, don't."

"I know you still love me. I know you still want me," he purred sensuously, making eye contact with her again. He was trying to seduce her but what he saw in her eyes made him stop. They were cold and hard and full of anger.

"It's too late," she hissed through her clenched teeth, jerking out of his grip. She turned and walked away, stopping before she disappeared from the room. "Do me a favor would you? Please don't come to see us again. I would prefer you stay out of my daughter's life. She needs a full time Daddy not some stranger that will come through just long enough to interrupt her life then be gone again. Can you do that? Can you disappear completely?"

"Of course I can. If that's what you want, I can make that happen," he promised.

"Yes. It's what I want. For me and _my_ daughter. Good-bye, Sai."

* * *

Sai disappeared that very night without a trace just like he had promised. Karuka and Gaara were married a month later. They had two more children two years apart; a girl named Oki and a boy they named Genkei. Both of them were redheads with teal colored eyes like their father's. They raised their children in a happy home above the artisan shop next door to the art gallery. It was only obvious that all three would become artists. Aislinn could sketch and paint just like the man who had helped make her but never was a part of her life. Oki and Genkei favored glassmaking and pottery like their father and mother.

Karuka was walking past the room where her sixteen year old daughter, Aislinn, made her paintings when she peeked in to see what her daughter was working on. She drew in a sigh so loud and sharp it caught her daughter's attention. She smiled when her daughter turned around to look at her.

"Oh, hi, Mama. Want to come get a closer look?" she inquired, waving her mother in.

"Who is this, baby?" she asked, staring at Sai's impeccable likeness on the canvas. She pressed her fingers against her lips, forcing back the tears. How could the child possibly remember him?

"I don't know. I've had his face running around in my head for years. I would swear I have seen him occasionally through the years. You know the kind of thing where you're walking down the street and think you see someone and then their gone?" she questioned, looking at her mother carefully. "Mama, who is he?"

"How should I know?" Karuka shrugged casually, drawing her eyebrows together to feign confusion.

"Mama," Aislinn shot back incredulously, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

Karuka took a deep breath, closing her eyes. "His name is Sai. He is your real father. He's the one who got me pregnant. He was an artist. He was selfish and unreliable and – "

"Mama!" her daughter exclaimed unexpectedly cutting her off. She put her arms around her mother who was crying. "My _real_ Daddy is the redheaded man in the living room. I don't care who the sperm donor was. I love you, Mama. It's okay."

Karuka dried her tears and hugged her daughter. Yes, it was okay. Everything had been okay for quite a while. They had raised wonderful children they loved and who loved them. She loved her husband Gaara with a fierce passion and devotion. Sometimes she still thought about the man who helped make her daughter possible. She was grateful to him for that. She kissed her fingers and pressed them to the lips drawn on the canvas. It was time to say a final farewell.

"Good-bye, Sai and thank you."


End file.
